Monthly Archives: June 2008

Allendale Adventures

Posted on June 29, 2008 by | Leave a comment

Allendale is a town way-way-way up in the north of England. A long 6 hour drive north of Cambridge – should be less but then there is always that random lane closure on the motorway. Curiously it also always seems to be in the direction in which I am traveling…some sort of Motorway Maintenance conspiracy I am sure!

Anyway, back to the gorgeous and oh so quaint village of Allendale. It has the beautiful stone walls, a strong community of people who care about each other and a disproportionate number of pubs. This is truly an international mystery actually – it seems to happen in OZ also. Tiny town – loads of places to swill beer. Curious.

Ah well…

A small team of us descended on an MBA friends family for the weekend and it was just lovely! We ate vast amounts of delicious food, I slept in a super comfy double bed, a few played golf, I launched myself onto a horse for an hour…. yep can still do it… and…did I mention we ate our selves silly?

It was a great escape from the joys of essays not quite finished, Individual projects/thesis not yet started and jobs yet to have been found.

There was also a sad element. My squash-garden party-and great-new-friend did not return with us to Cambridge. She has headed back to her home in the Netherlands to finish off the last MBA task.

I think many things are going to be tinged with sadness over the coming weeks as people disappear back to former lives with new skills, knowledge and I hope the most splendid memories of an intense year spent together.

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Linguistically Challenged

Posted on June 23, 2008 by | Leave a comment

Bonjour, mon aimee…

Sadly that is about as good as it gets.

You guessed it I am back in French class.ekkk!

Goodness knows what came over me. It may have been the bargain deal – a 3 weeks intensive French for £50 – that got me over the line. It is actually well beyond a good deal, it could be described as a great deal actually. I just didn’t think through the enormity of the decision.

I was absolutely pitiable at French from the age of 9 to 14. The absolute and complete terror of those French poems we had to learn off by heart. My brain was significantly more sponge like back then and after this year there is not much space left for tricky stuff like another language!

So every morning I am pitching up to French class for 2 hours. Fortunately it is a basic level so I am meeting again my verb friends from my youth- Je suis, J’ai, J’aime. And a few nouns I recognise. Phew!

It reminds me how remarkable all of the non native speakers are in the MBA – I can’t imagine being able to understand such complex stuff in another language!

I am certain this year would have ended in tears if I had had to do it in anything but English.

So it would seem that I remain liguistically challenged but at least this time round I don’t have to learn any poems!

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Garden Parties: serious science

Posted on June 20, 2008 by | Leave a comment

I have been conducting a very serious scientific experiment over the past week.It has been very rigorous, masses of commitment to the challenge and mega late nights!

I have risked headaches and nausea, not to mention ankle injury due to sinking heels on grass while wearing posh frocks.

The question: Is it possible to drink too much champagne?

The answer: Absolutely not!

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But I don’t have a 5 year plan?

Posted on June 19, 2008 by | Leave a comment

I am definitely a failure as an MBA. Actually that may be a bit strong but certainly I fail in certain aspects. For one I can never imagine being a pinstripe wearing, FT reading, working in the city kind of a girl. It just doesn’t seem to fit.

And while on the whole organised is something I am – and goodness knows I love to plan – I just don’t seem to be able to formulate a 5 year career plan. And it seems this is essential to be a good MBA. It is certainly a feature of every employment conversation, and was in just about every application to a business school.

However, I am wondering whether it is such a brilliant thing to have. The most famous 5 year plan is Russia’s. I remember learning about it in History at school, all those years ago. It would seem that Russia is still going with it – wikipedia lists up to 13, 5 year plans. I don’t know and am not so sure it is working for them? Although in a political sense they are being fairly consistent which is pretty unusual when running a country.

There are loads of websites and blogs pondering 5 year plans…. so clearly it is not an easy thing to have. And even if you have one it is no guarantee of success is it. A heap can happen in 5 years. Think about the changes that go on from baby to 5 year old, from 25 years to 30. And if I think back 5 years, I was in Melbourne working away as a Physio with no thoughts of MBA’s in Cambridge.

So this is my problem – I don’t have one, but I remain unconvinced that I really need one. So I must figure out how to ask this frequently asked question……. Suggestions anyone?

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So how does it feel?

Posted on June 15, 2008 by | Leave a comment

Do you know I am not sure how it feels to be finished. This may be because in my mind it is not yet over. I still have a number of essays and of course the thesis to complete in the coming months.

On Friday we finished lectures. Now that did feel sad.

Although I was pleased with my fortitude as I had been out dancing on one of the those wonderful, spontaneous evenings at a place in Cambridge called Soul Tree. Which has a shameful but yet completely excellent 80′s night. So getting up and heading to class was not quite as easy as it could have been.

The other thing I guess is that I have yet to figure which way I will be heading in September. While there is nothing firm or confirmed, there are lots of options; Stay in the UK, go home; public hospital work, private health work, Volunteer sector…..

Ah well I guess it will become clearer…. and then maybe I will be able to express my feelings about the last few months.

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May Ball – one down!

Posted on June 15, 2008 by | Leave a comment

I guess this is yet another quirky element to Cambridge- fancy having a May Ball in June! The week of Balls and Garden parties marks the end of exams for most of the undergrads and for those on the MBA the end of lectures.

So, last night I went along – clickity, clack – in heals to the Hughes Hall May Ball.

Very sweetly one of the boys from the MBA even came and collected me from home… I shudder to think how long it has been since that has happened! It was a lovely and very gentlemanly gesture.

There was a rather large bunch of MBAs – it would seen that we always travel in packs of no less than 20 at these events. And I am pleased to say that there was a substantial number of us at the end also. Yep surprised myself actually. Despite not being seriously inebriated (actually not even close, as can be judged by my lack of hangover today) and there being lots of very bad music I made it to the end.

Found myself in broad daylight, in black tie queuing for a bacon butty! So very glam!

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Leading into action?

Posted on June 15, 2008 by | 2 Comments

Leadership in Action was one of the greatest surprises and also pleasures of the MBA course. We had our final one last Wednesday which as always was full of pearls of wisdom. And the top 10 pearls over the last few weeks were placed on a cake…. which was of course completely devoured by 100 plus hungry MBA’s!

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Can a Leopard change its spots?

Posted on June 12, 2008 by | Leave a comment

So can a Leopard change its spots? I am not so sure that it needs to.

Quite often, when I meet people, and I explain my background and then go on to say that I am doing an MBA they get the most perplexed look on their face.

What on earth is a Physio doing, completing an MBA? Quickly followed up by the question – do you want to be a Banker or a Consultant? I think if I did have a burning passion for either of these professions I would be pretty worried with the current economic environment, so fortunately the answer is at best probably a maybe.

Since September I have tried my hand at Finance, cost accounting, financial accounting all of which I have passed and sometimes quite well. It is not like numbers freak me out – I mean I use to play around a lot with numbers; I did do Maths and Science a lot at school, the Biomechanics and chemistry of the body is full of numbers and torques.

However, my MBA has been heavy on the ‘soft subjects’. I have not suddenly changed my spots and become an excel spreadsheet jockey nor do I dive into the delights of the FT each morning. What I have realised though is that even with numbers it is about the logic and the relationship between them. So if you are curious to know about how relationships work, whether it is between Column A and Column B, or between people on the Board of a massive company an MBA will work for you regardless of your spots!

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Ah Choo!

Posted on June 11, 2008 by | Leave a comment

It would seem that there are loads of sneezers and wheezers in class at the moment. I sat next to a poor afflicted hayfever sufferer today who sniffed and sneezed.

Now I am certainly not jealous of the current hay fever epidemic but I am just a little jealous of the multitude of sneezes that they are being blessed with!

I do love a good sneeze. That peculiar tingle in the nose is some how great and just slightly tantilising for a moment at least!

Sneezing is a surprising complicated thing and to just really add value to the complexity of the action it has a fantastic medical name: sternutation. Fancy that!

The action involves your diaphragm, your abs, your vocal cord muscles and few in your throat and of course your eyes. It is absolutely impossible to sneeze with your eyes open… a good piece of knowledge for your next pub trivia night! It has inspired poems by AA Milne in 1927 (Sneezles) and urban myths about sneezgasm’s.

So how such influence seems wildly disproportionate to its actual purpose which is remove something bothering the inside of your nose!

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MBA Ball – the goodbyes begin

Posted on June 10, 2008 by | Leave a comment

While still recovering from Saturdays hangover – on Sunday – yep it was a bad one- we frocked up for the MBA ball.

It seems that we are on the treadmill of goodbyes, farewells and this is the last time that…..

I just don’t feel quite ready for all of this leaving malachy. While I don’t want to be doing anymore assignments and definitely not any exams – it all feels very quick.

There are people I still don’t really know, there are stories still not told and definitely more to learn from each others lives and experiences.

hmmmmm

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